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APEX User Guide

Overview

APEX is CeRTNA's 2nd generation Electronic Recording Delivery System. The software is based on Microsoft's .NET Framework and their “Click-Once” software delivery architecture. APEX supports the following major features:

  • Secure transport of XML transaction files.
  • Reporting (Work in progress.)
  • Administration (Work in progress.)
  • Direct Order Entry (Work in progress.)

Other lower level features include:

  • Digital signatures, encryption, and decryption based on PKI technology.
  • Multi-threaded processing for improved throughput.
  • Improved error handling and recovery.
  • Multi-workstation support.

The following pages provide a comprehensive outline of APEX functionality.

HW & OS Requirements

Hardware and software has changed significantly since CeRTNA's original launch in 2008. Since that time the CeRTNA ERDS application environment is transitioning from a simple web client application to a more sophisticated thick client application named APEX.

Hardware Requirements

The following workstation specifications are designed to satisfy the requirements for running APEX and are current as of May 10, 2025:

  • Processor: Intel i5 or greater
  • Memory: 16 GB Minimum / 32 GB Recommended
  • Disk Storage: 100 GB Recommended (Depends on your environment. See note.)
  • USB Port: Available USB 2.0 port (See note.)
  • Network Adapter: 100 Mbps or higher.

Notes:

  • The SafeNet eToken requires a USB 2.0 or 3.0 style port. USB-C adapters are not supported.
  • CeRTNA exchanges files with the recording vendor software using a Windows folder. This folder can be either a local folder on the local hard drive of the workstation, for example the C: drive, or it can be a shared network folder, for example \\your_server\shared_folder\. If you use a network share, the CeRTNA ERDS workstation will need to have network access to the shared folder or UNC path where the CeRTNA ERDS XML transactions will be accessed for submissions, stored upon retrieval, and or picked up for return. Please refer to the section Folder Structure in the Workstation Installation Guide for a description of how the standard CeRTNA ERDS folder structure should be created.
  • In most cases, the Disk Storage requirements for CeRTNA are minimal. The XML files that are submitted by an agent or returned by a county are moved to a PROCESSED subfolder and APEX automatically keeps the subfolder cleaned up based on a “Number of days to keep files” setting in CeRTNA's agent and/or county configuration record. The current default setting for the “Number of days to keep files” is 45. The larger that number is, the more storage space that will be used. Allocating 100 GB of storage space will most likely cover any storage requirements needed by APEX.
  • If you will be using a standalone workstation, you will need a security cabinet for your ERDS workstation. You can click this link to see a security cabinet that CeRTNA recommends.
  • If you will be submitting transactions, you may need to acquire a scanner and scanning software. The brand of scanner/software is left up to the submitter, however, any scanner/software selected needs to be able to produce, black & white, CCITT T.6 (Group4-Compressed), 300 dpi, TIFF image files.

Operating System Requirements

CeRTNA will certify and support the CeRTNA ERDS software (APEX) and the required tools on the following Microsoft Windows platforms:

  • Windows 10 Professional (32-bit or 64-bit versions.)
  • Windows 11 Professional (64-bit version.)
  • Windows Server 2012 Standard/Enterprise (Installed as a VM.)
  • Windows Server 2019 Standard/Enterprise (Installed as a VM.)

Important: Home Editions of Microsoft Windows operating systems are not supported because they do now have support for Local Security Policy.

Firewall Considerations

APEX communicates using SSL port 443 (https) and some communications take place using port 80 (http). The following table contains a list of hosts that must be reachable in order for APEX to be installed or be used after the installation:

Host IP Address Description
dev-ws02.certna.org 204.246.133.236 APEX installation
apex-setup.certna.org 204.246.133.236 APEX installation
apex-prd.certna.org 204.246.133.237 APEX production ERDS web
apex-prd.certnag2g.org 209.170.199.196 APEX production G2G web
reports.certna.org 204.246.133.238 APEX production ERDS reports
reports.certnag2g.org 209.170.199.202 APEX production G2G reports
*.sectigo.com * PKI certificates (Note 2)
*.digicert.com * PKI certificates (Note 2)
*.ssl.com * Code Signing certificate (Note 2)
*.godaddy.com * SSL certificates (Note 2)

CeRTNA no longer interfaces with Entrust, therefore, the references to *.entrust.com and *.entrust.net shown above have been stricken out.

Note 1: CeRTNA recognizes that different firewalls are in service at our customers and that firewall features functions can vary broadly. CeRTNA prefers to minimize the amount of IT administrative support required by creating rules based on the following tolerance and/or capabilities of your firewall:

  1. Use wildcard domains if possible. (Ex: *.certna.org or *.certnag2g.org)
  2. Use host names if possible. (Ex: apex-prd.certna.org or reports.certna.org)
  3. Last resort, use IP addresses.

The preceding list is sorted in order of preference.

Note 2: Several digital certificates are used in support of CeRTNA/APEX, these include SSL certificates, PKI certificates for digital signatures, PKI certificates for encryption/decryption, and code-signing certificates. The CeRTNA APEX application uses core WCF & .NET functionality to verify that the PKI certifcates are still valid and have not expired. Further, during the APEX installation/update process, the code-signing certificate is validated. The lower level WCF & .NET API's communicate using port 80 for OCSP and CRL certificate validation functions. It is important that your firewall team take this into consideration.

Workstation Support

In addition to the locations listed above, there are some additional hosts that you also want to allow in order to facilitate the retrieval of Windows Updates and for CeRTNA remote support.

Host IP Address Description
*.microsoft.com * Top-level Microsoft domain, to avoid issues with Windows functionality. (Note 3)
*.update.microsoft.com * General Windows update domain.

Configuring the firewall rules for Windows Updates and other fundamental OS support, for example, virus definition files for Endpoint Protection or other 3rd party system management tools is the responsibility of your organizations IT staff. The information provided in the preceding table is here simply point out that there are additional URL's that may need to be accommodated beyond those that are required for APEX and/or CeRTNA functionality.

Note 3: Support for Teams meetings and screensharing is also required for remote support of the APEX software.

APEX Installation

APEX is based on the Microsoft “Click-Once” software architecture. This means that the installation files are accessed over the Internet. Once the installation completes, APEX communicates with the following URLs:

ERDS: https://apex-prd.certna.org (204.246.133.237)

G2G: https://apex-prd.certnag2g.org (209.170.199.196)

Please be sure to check with your IT department to ensure that your workstation has access to both the installation URLs and the operational URLs as outlined.

To be able to initiate the installation process you must be able to communicate with following URL: https://apex-setup.certna.org/ (209.170.199.194). If you are able to reach the installation site, you will be presented with the screen that is shown below.

If you are not presented with the page that is shown below, it may be due to firewall restrictions, your anti-virus software, and/or your organizations workstation security policy. You will need to reach out to your local IT support staff if you have difficulty accessing the APEX installation site or run into other issues trying to install APEX.

It should also be noted that the APEX software is signed with a code-signing certificate to prove it is from a trust vendor, California Electronic Recording Transaction Network Authority. This certificate is validated by servers located by the entrust.net Certification Authority (CA). If the certificate cannot be verified, it could prevent the installation of the software.

Click the Install button. You should see the following prompt at the bottom of the browser window:

Click the Run button.

Applications that are installed over the Internet should be signed so that you know that the application software is distributed by a trusted source. The following Application Install Security Warning is displayed:

Optionally, you can display the CeRTNA Code Signing Certificate by clicking the link labeled California Electronic Recording Transaction Network Authority. If you click the link, the following panel is displayed to so CeRTNA's code signing certificate information:

When you are finished viewing the certificate details, click the Ok button to close the window.

From the Application Install Security Warning window, click the Install button. The APEX application will be installed and a progress window will be displayed as shown below:

Once the installation completes, the APEX client application will automatically launch as shown below:

This completes the APEX Installation process. Please be sure to read the APEX Getting Started Guide before you attempt to use APEX.

APEX Getting Started

This document is intended to provide a quick overview some of the preliminary steps of using APEX, such as creating your preliminary APEX folder structure, logging into APEX, registering your workstation, and resetting your password. A high-level description of the APEX user interface (UI) is also outlined below.

APEX Folder Structures

Before attempting to login to APEX for the first time, you will need to identify the name of a '{base}' folder that APEX can use for the subfolders that are used by APEX. For new organizations, the '{base}' folder name is typically provided to CeRTNA as part of the initial CeRTNA setup process for a new submitter, agent, or county.

If the '{base}' folder that is configured for your organization does not exist, you will not be able to login to APEX.

The following table describes the folder structures that are used by APEX.

CeRTNA uses a pair of 'shared' folders for exchanging XML files between the APEX application and the Agent or County. In the CeRTNA environment, each submitter, agent, and county is configured with a 'base' shared folder that serves as the 'root' for a set of subfolders that are used by the APEX application. The 'base' folder can be a local drive, a network drive, or a UNC path.

The following folder/subfolder structures are used by APEX:

Folder/Path Description
{base}\ Used by the APEX Sender (Note 1)
{base}\RETRIEVED\ Used by the APEX Retriever (Note 2)
{base}\PROCESSED\ For files that have been sent. (Note 3)
{base}\DRAFTS\ Used by APEX for Direct-Entry draft transactions.
{base}\INVALID\ Folder for XML files that cannot be sent. (Note 5)
{base}\APEX_WORK\ Used by APEX Sender for lock files. (Note 6)
{base}\APEX_WORK\RETRIEVED\ Used by APEX Retriever for lock files. (Note 7)
{base}\APEX_WORK\PROCESSED\ Used by APEX Sender for lock files. (Note 8)
{base}\APEX_WORK\INVALID\ Used by APEX Sender for lock files. (Note 9)
{base}\APEX_WORK\TEMP\ Used by APEX for converting Base64 strings to TIFF images. (Note 10)

The following table contains more descriptive notes for each of the folders referenced in the previous table:

Note Comments
1 The APEX Sender looks in this folder for XML files that have been placed here by Agent or County interface programs or by the APEX Direct-Entry UI.
2 The APEX Retriever process places XML files in this folder thereby 'handing off' the file to an Agent or County interface program.
3 After the APEX Sender process finishes sending an XML file to the server, it moves the file to this subfolder.
4 The APEX Direct-Entry UI provide a way for submitters/agents to assemble transactions before sending them to the County Recorder. As Draft transactions are being assembled, their information is temporarily stored in the local DRAFTS subfolder. After the Draft transaction is selected to be Sent, the DRAFTS transaction is removed.
5 Part of the 'sending' process is to perform a variety of validation checks. If the sending validation check returns validation errors, the XML file is moved to this subfolder and an alert message is logged in the APEX Log Panel.
6 APEX processes use a locking mechanism to assign a Sender thread to a specific XML file. This folder holds the lock files created by the APEX Sender processes. (This folder is intended to be used exclusively by APEX.)
7 APEX processes use a locking mechanism to assign a Retriever thread to a specific ERDS or G2G transaction. This folder holds the lock files for the APEX Retriever processes. (This folder is intended to be used exclusively by APEX.)
8 This folder holds lock files for the XML files that are being moved to the PROCESSED subfolder. (This folder is intended to be used exclusively by APEX.)
9 This folder holds lock files for the XML files that are being moved to the INVALID subfolder. (This folder is intended to be used exclusively by APEX.)
10 The TIFF images from recorded transactions can be viewed. APEX uses the TEMP subfolder as a work folder when converting Base64 to TIFF. The temporary folder/file path is passed to Windows to allow the default TIFF image viewer to display the recorded TIFF image.)

APEX Login Panel

To access the APEX Login Panel, click the User Login button, located on the main APEX ribbon:

The following Login Panel will be displayed:

Field Descriptions:

Field Description
User Name This is your CeRTNA ERDS or G2G userid.
Password This is your CeRTNA ERDS or G2G password. (Not your token password.)
Platform Select from the list or type in Production-ERDS or Production-G2G
Status Icon When you select or type in a Platform value, APEX will verify that it can communicate with the selected platform. A green circle with a white checkbox, means APEX communicate with the selected Platform. A red circle with an X means APEX is not able to communicate with the selected platform.
Refresh Icon This icon can be clicked to tell APEX to try communicating with the selected platform again.
Show Password Clicking this checkbox will cause your password to be displayed in plain text.
Forgot Password Click this link if you need to reset your password. (More detail later in this document.)
Register Workstation In order to use APEX for sending or retrieving transactions, your workstation must be a registered, certified ERDS workstation. Use this link to submit a registration request for your workstation. (More detail later in this document.
Login Button Once a userid, password, and valid Platform name have been entered, this button will be enabled. Click this button to continue logging into the CeRTNA ERDS and/or G2G workstation.
Cancel Button Click this button to Cancel and close the Login Panel.

After you have entered your User Name, Password, and Platform you can click the Login button. APEX will then initiate a variety of actions including, verifying your credentials, retrieving and verifying configuration information associated with your user and your organization and APEX will retrieve and verify your PKI Authentication Certificate.

While APEX is performing these actions, the following panel will be displayed:

During the login verification process, you may be prompted to enter the password (PIN) for your USB token. If your token password is required, the following pop-up window will be displayed.

Enter your token password, click the Ok button, and the login verification process will continue forward.

Once the login initialization and verification process completes, you will be presented with the main APEX UI as shown below:

Documentation for the APEX UI can be found further down in this document.

Resetting Your Password

With all of the passwords that we have in our lives, it is not uncommon to forget your password. If you forget your password and you need to have it reset, you can click on the Forgot Password link on the main Login Panel, the following pop-up window is displayed:

In the User Name field, enter the userid for the platform that you selected on the Login Panel and then click the Request Password Change button.

A temporary password will be sent to the e-mail address that is associated with the userid that you entered.

When you receive the temporary password, enter the temporary password into the Password Change Code field and then enter your new password into the New Password and the Confirm New Password fields.

If you are uncertain about the password formatting rules, you can click the question mark icon and the following pop-up window will be displayed, showing you the rules for creating a password:

If you have entered a new password that meets the password formatting requirements, the Change Password button will become enabled and you can click it to change your password.

Register Workstation Panel

Workstations that are used to transmit ERDS or G2G transactions (payloads) must be certified by CeRTNA. The certification process includes a verification that the workstation is configured as outlined in the document Preparing For A System Audit and that an acceptable Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer report has been submitted to CeRTNA.

The Register Workstation process is the method that APEX uses to ensure that only 'certified' workstations are used for transmitting ERDS or G2G transactions (payloads). If you have installed APEX on a workstation that has not been registered, the buttons for sending and retrieving transactions will not be displayed, which means you will not be able to send and/or retrieve transactions.

If you are installing APEX on a workstation that has been certified by CeRTNA, you can register the workstation by clicking the Register Workstation link on the Login Panel. When you click the Register Workstation link, the following pop-up window is displayed:

All fields are required. Once you have completed filling in the form, click the Register Workstation button and a workstation registration request will be created. CeRTNA staff will receive an e-mail notification that the workstation registration request has been created and a staff member will verify that the ERDS or G2G workstation has been certified. If the workstation has been certified, CeRTNA staff will approve the workstation registration request and this will cause APEX to enable the functionality required to send and retrieve ERDS or G2G transactions.

A confirmation e-mail will be sent to the address provided in the registration request to inform the requester about the status of their registration request.

APEX UI Overview

Once a CeRTNA ERDS or G2G user has successfully logged into APEX, they will be presented with the main APEX User Interface (UI).

The APEX UI is managed dynamically based on each users role, organization, and individual permissions. At a high level, the APEX UI is constructed based on the following UI map:

As shown, the main APEX UI contains a series of Containers, Components, and Selectors. Containers will contain one or more APEX functional components. Selectors provide a way to switch between different functional components.

The following table describes each item:

Item Name Description
1 Ribbon Container This section holds various ribbon components. These components may be buttons that trigger actions or components that simply provide static information.
2 Feature Container This area serves as a navigation area for the various features offered by APEX. As described earlier, the features that will be visble will be driven by the users role and organization. Some initial features may include Repository View, Reports, and Administration. The APEX Health feature is a static feature that is visible at all times.
3 Detail Container This section contains components that respond dynamically based on feature that has been selected in the Feature Container.
4 Log Container This area currently holds the APEX Log Panel. This area may also house the announcements and/or system alerts component.
5 Actions Component This ribbon component contains buttons that drive actions.
6 SysInfo Component This ribbon component provides static systems information about the current user and the current APEX session.
7 Health Component This is a static component that remains visible whenever the APEX window is visible and it provides information about the Health of the current APEX session.
8 Repositories Component This component provides a list of both APEX local and remote transaction repositories. Clicking on one of the repository names will cause the Detail Container to update based on the selected repository.
9 Repository Detail Component This component provides a list of the item contained in the selected Repository.
10 Log Panel Component This is a scrolling log panel that contains real-time event activity.
11 Ribbon Selector This selector is used to switch between different Ribbon views.
12 Log Filter Selector This selector is used to filter which log messages/events are displayed in the Log Panel container.
13 Feature Selector This selector is used to switch between different APEX functional features.

Additional detail describing each components specific functionality is contained in their respective sections in this document.

APEX Transport Module

The APEX Transport Module facilitates the sending and retrieving of transactions, also referred to as 'payloads' and/or XML files. Transactions can only be sent and retrieved on a registered and/or certified ERDS or G2G workstation.

If you are logged into APEX on a registered ERDS or G2G workstation and your user role is authorized to start/stop the APEX transport processes you will see the Start Payloads Send and Start Payloads Retriever buttons on the Actions ribbon as shown below:

When the Sender and/or Retriever processes are not active/running, the Retriever Manager and Sender Manager rows in the APEX Health component will be red to indicate that those processes are stopped.

Click the Start Payloads Sender button to start the Sender and click the Start Payloads Retriever button to start the respective processes. Once the Retriever/Sender processes are running, the APEX UI will change as shown below:

The APEX detail panel is used to review the list of transactions that are in specific statuses. To view transactions that are in a specific status, click one of the status lines in the Remote Payloads section of the Repositories component. A list of XML files that are in the local file system can be seen by clicking one of the line items listed in the Local Payloads section of the Repositories component as shown below:

As can be seen, APEX will display an icon next to files that are currently being transported.

An alternative way to see APEX activity is to use the Dashboard View. The Dashboard is accessed by clicking the Dashboard tab as shown below:

The Dashboard view, shows the list of Retriever/Sender processes (threads) that are currently running. Each process (thread) will identify the specific transaction that it is sending or retrieving.

When a process is not actively sending or retrieving a transaction, its status will show as Idle. A process that is Idle is active but it is waiting for a unit of work to become available.

All transaction flow is logged to the Log Panel as shown below:

The Log panel shows separate for when the transaction Sending and/or Retrieving starts and when the transaction Sending and or Retrieving completes.

Retriever and Sender processes are managed independently. In other words you can start and/or stop the processes individually by clicking their respective buttons on the Actions Ribbon. When a Retriever or Sender process is stopped, its corresponding status indicator will turn red as shown below:

To start or stop a Sender or Retriever process, click its corresponding button on the Actions ribbon.

APEX Reports Module

Reports are available in APEX via the APEX Reports feature, which is accessible on the Feature Selector in the left content panel.

To see the reports that you are authorized to access, click the Reports selector as shown below:

APEX Reports are served up via CeRTNA Microsoft SQL Server Report Services (SSRS). The reports in APEX will look and behave exactly like they did in the CeRTNA web client application.

When you select a report a parameter section and a standard toolbar will displayed as shown below:

The report tool bar has many features. You can move between pages using the arrows or by typing in a page number to advance to the desired page. You can select an export format from the drop down menu, refresh the report or print the report by clicking one of the buttons.

Several formats are available for exporting reports as seen below:

Activity Detail Report

The Activity Detail Report is intended to provide totals of activity by various selection criteria. The Activity Detail Report provides a baseline management tool to monitor activity for the ERDS, Counties, and Submitters. This report includes the Transaction ID, County, Originator Name, Customer Reference, County Fees, Instrument Numbers or Rejection Codes and a Status.

Parameter selection is based on your user role:

Agent Role Parameters:

County Role Parameters:

After the report options have been selected, click the View Report button to generate the Activity Detail Report as shown below:

Clicking on one of the Transaction ID's will cause the Transaction Audit Report to be displayed in a pop-up window as shown below:

Activity Summary Report

The Activity Summary Report is intended to provide totals of activity by various selection criteria. The Activity Summary Report provides a baseline Management tool to monitor activity for the ERDS, Counties and Submitters. This report will list the Submitter and give the total Count, Recording Fee and Tax totals.

This report is produced by selecting a Start Date and End Date. Click View Report to view the Activity Summary Report.

Depending on your role, you will see one of the following formats:

Agent Role:

County Role:

Recordation Report

As the name implies, the Recordation Report is intended to provided detailed recording information based on a variety of user specified criteria.

This report shows information about the County, Submitter, Transaction ID, Primary & Secondary Reference Numbers, Recording Fees, Taxes, Date/Time of Recording, Document Type and Recorded Instrument Number.

This report provides summary information at both county and submitter levels and all totals are rolled into a grand total for the report.

The report can be restricted to a specific date range, selected counties or submitters and depending your role, grouping options may be available.

Output for the Recordation Report is based on your user role.

Agent Role Samples:

Agent Recordation Report grouped by County:

Example of summary lines for an Agent Recordation Report grouped by County:

Agent Recordation Report grouped by Submitter:

Example of summary lines for an Agent Recordation Report grouped by Submitter:

County Role Samples:

County role users do not see a Grouping field. The County view of the Recordation Report is automatically grouped by Submitter. Sample layouts are shown below:

Example of summary lines for a County Recordation Report:

Reject Detail Report

The Rejection Detail Report is intended to provide rejection details to Submitters and County. This report includes Transaction ID, County, Submitter, Primary Reference, Last Modified, Doc Type, Rejection Code, Rejection Code Description and Rejection Message.

Parameter selection is based on your user role:

Agent Role Parameters:

County Role Parameters:

After the report options have been selected, click the View Report button to generate the Reject Detail Report as shown below:

Status Detail Report

The Status Detail Report shows a summary of all payloads by Status. This will give the Submitter or County user a snapshot of the activity for a time period and the total number of payloads in any given status.

Like the other reports, parameter selection is based on your user role:

Agent Role Parameters:

County Role Parameters:

After the report options have been selected, click the View Report button to generate the Status Detail Report as shown below:

The Transaction History for individual transactions can be viewed by clicking a specific Transaction ID that appears in the detail of the Status Detail Report. When you click a Transaction ID the Transaction history is shown in a pop-up report window as shown below:

Status Summary Report

The Status Summary Report shows summary counts for each of the major transaction statuses. (Draft, Submitted, RetrievedByCounty, ReturnedByCounty, RetrievedBySubmitter, and Archived. The Status Summary Reports can be grouped based on your role. For Agent Roles, the report can be grouped by County or Submitter. For County Roles the report can be grouped by Agent or Submitter. If you are a System Administrator Role you can group the report by County, Agent, or Submitter.

Following are samples for Agent and County roles:

Agent Role - Grouped by County:

County Role - Grouped by Agent:

County Role - Grouped by Submitter:

Agent Role - Grouped by Submitter:

If you click a summary value that is greater than zero, the Status Detail Report is displayed in a pop-up report windows for the selected items as shown below:

Transaction Audit Report

The Transaction Audit Report reflects the history of a transaction. All activity is logged by date, time and user. The report provides a history of each of the status changes associated with the specific transaction. This report includes the Type, Reference, Status, Agent, Submitter, County, Created By and Modified By for each status change of the transaction.

To generate the Transaction Audit Report enter the Transaction_Id and click View Report. The report will be generated and displayed as shown below:

Transaction History Report

The Transaction History Report provides a flexible way to review the history of multiple transactions within a single report. All activity is logged by date, time and user. The report provides a history of each of the status changes associated with each transaction that meets the filtering criteria. This report includes the Type, Reference, Status, Agent, Submitter, County, Created By and Modified By for each status change of the transaction.

Report sorting and filtering options vary based on user role.

Agent role users can sort by County/Submitter or Submitter/County and they can filter based on Start Date, End Date, County, and Submitter as shown below:

Agent Role Samples:

Agent Role sorting by County/Submitter:

Agent role sorting by Submitter/County:

County Role Samples:

County Role sorting by Agent/Submitter:

County role sorting by Submitter/Agent:

Continue documentation here.

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